Authoritative resource for: Error getting authority: Error initializing authority: Could not connect: No such file or directory (g-io-error-quark, 1)

Question

My error is:

Error getting authority: Error initializing authority: Could not connect: No such file or directory (g-io-error-quark, 1)

This is for Kubuntu 14.04 with LVM and UEFI. The system will not boot normally. I can get to the root prompt in rescue mode.

The error happened yesterday. I did a normal update (apt-get dist-upgrade), but did not restart the computer right away due to having some applications open. Later the monitors went to sleep (just the monitors, not the system). However, I could not get out of the blank screen mode with anything I tried (except switching to a virtual console via ALT-F1). So I rebooted the system. But it would not boot normally. I get a completely blank screen. I can switch to a virtual console (or I can boot in rescue mode). But I am not able to boot normally (into the GUI).

It appears that the exact same error can be produced in many different situations.

Having reviewed similar questions, I'm not finding any solution.

What are all the known issues that can cause this error message? (I'll test them one-by-one until I find the solution.) In general, it would be nice to have an authoritative resource for this very confusing error.

See my screen picture:

There are 3 partitions: sda1, sda2, sda3
sda1 is /boot/efi
sda2 is /boot
sda3 is the LVM-based file system. It has 2 LV's (one is the root fs and one is swap).

Solution

Searching the Internet leads to the conclusion that the exact same error can be produced in many different situations. That's true.

However, there is a single underlying issue. Understanding it will help clarify the situation. What is happening is that systemd is dropping into emergency mode by design. The developers consider this correct behavior, not a bug.

The message is from polkit. The recommended steps after receiving this message are to drop into a root shell and run the following command:

journalctl -xb -p3

In particular, look for fstab entries that reference non-existent devices. Or, if it is a device that needs to remain listed in fstab, consider adding the nofail boot option to it. (Some recommend adding nofail to all fstab entries now.)

In this thread, giulioo gives an acerbic set of steps for recovering from this error:

1) Run:

journalctl -xb -p3

2) Let's say you realize fstab was the problem, you then correct the problem in fstab (e.g., by adding nofail or by removing a problematic device listing) and press CTRL-D, and what happens? This happens:

Error getting authority. Error initializing authority: Could not connect: No such file or directory  (g-io-error-quark, 1)

The system then stalls for another 60 secs, and then you are again presented with the emergency message.

You then hopefully realize that maybe fstab-generator early in the boot created unit files from fstab and systemd is using the "old" unit files instead of the updated fstab.

So you try:

systemctl daemon-reload

Again you get:

Error getting authority. Error initializing authority: Could not connect: No such file or directory  (g-io-error-quark, 1)

But this time the system won't stall, so you again press press CTRL-D and you get:

Error getting authority. Error initializing authority: Could not connect: No such file or directory  (g-io-error-quark, 1)

Finally, this time after a few seconds the system will boot succesfully.

Comments

[Kyle Maxwell]

Thanks, this addressed my issue on CentOS as well. This crusty old graybeard will refrain from adding any comments about systemd...